Prolonged release pharmaceutical dosage forms represent an important tool in a medical practioner's armoury for treating diseases. One of the general benefits generally attributed to prolonged release pharmaceutical dosage forms versus immediate release pharmaceutical dosage forms includes increased patient compliance as a consequence of reduced administration frequency.
There are various technologies available for obtaining prolonged release dosage forms. Prolonged release properties may be conveyed by so-called prolonged release matrix systems, prolonged release coatings, osmotic dosage forms, multi-layered dosage forms etc.
When developing a prolonged release formulation, it is generally necessary to choose the respective formulation technology with respect to the physico-chemical and physiological properties of the pharmaceutically active agent(s) in question. This means a substantial amount of work for the formulation specialist. This will be even more so where the dosage form comprises pharmaceutically active agents such opioid agonists which theoretically can be abused, i.e. are not used for medicinal purposes.
There is thus a continuing interest in pharmaceutical dosage forms which comprise opioid analgesic as pharmaceutically active agents, which provide prolonged release properties and account for opioids' potential of being abused.